The Palestinian Authority’s attempt to assert itself in the Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad stronghold of Jenin for the past week is reviving debate in Israel over the PA’s potential involvement in administering post-war Gaza.

In a rare crackdown, PA security forces killed a PIJ commander in Jenin on Saturday, and have been conducting ongoing operations to “restore order” since then, accusing the terrorist group of adopting an “ISIS approach” and planning an attack on Palestinian civilians. 

There have also been exchanges of gunfire between the PA and terrorists in Tulkarem in recent days. On Tuesday, Hamas called to mobilize its forces in the West Bank against the PA operation. 

The operation comes amid efforts to crack down on Iran’s smuggling of weapons into the West Bank from Jordan in an attempt to destabilize the PA and spark attacks on Israel. 

Concerns about destabilization in the West Bank in the aftermath of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s fall — along with the PA’s fight against Iran-backed terrorism — led Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to call a security cabinet meeting on Sunday at the headquarters of IDF Central Command, which includes the Judea and Samaria Division that operates in the territory.

Recent events strengthened Netanyahu’s resolve to build a barrier along the line between the West Bank and Jordan to prevent Iranian arms smuggling. The prime minister views Iranian attempts to destabilize both areas as a major challenge for Israel in 2025, an individual with knowledge of the matter told Jewish Insider.

In addition to the IDF briefing, the ministers discussed a request from the Biden administration to allow the U.S. to provide military aid to the PA. Any support for the PA is an unpopular proposition on the Israeli right, as evidenced by a criticism National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir levied on Monday against Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who has allowed Israeli banks to continue to do business with the PA. “He speaks right-wing outside the room,” Ben-Gvir said, “But in practicality…he is saving the Palestinian Authority from economic collapse.”

While Israel has swooped in to save the PA from collapse many times over the years, Netanyahu has repeatedly made clear since last year’s Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks that he is “not prepared to replace Hamastan with Fatahstan,” referring to the party that controls the PA. In light of the PA inciting against Israel in its textbooks and paying terrorists who attack Israelis, Netanyahu has said he will not allow the governing authority to be a partner in rehabilitating and administering Gaza after Israel achieves its war aim of eliminating Hamas. 

Meanwhile, Egypt has been pushing for a committee of Palestinian factions, including Hamas and Fatah, to govern Gaza. The UAE, which has talked about playing a role in Gaza’s rehabilitation, has said it would only do so with cooperation from the PA. The PA, for its part, has rejected working with regional partners in Gaza.

An Israeli official speaking to JI this week confirmed that the fighting between the PA and Iran-backed groups in Jenin has not changed that view, and that Israel wants Gaza demilitarized, with no exceptions for the PA security forces. 

The position in Israel’s security establishment, however, is that the PA should be strengthened. A second Israeli official emphasized to JI the importance of support for the PA from Israel’s allies in the West and the Middle East, as the PA fights Iranian proxies.

“There are a number of things that need to be done immediately to maintain the stability of the PA right now, because it is in everyone’s interest that they remain strong,” the official said. “It’s a very critical time, because if the PA is weak or if these extremist factions do succeed in creating chaos in Judea and Samaria [the West Bank], then it could also further ignite the rest of that area, which is a big concern.”

The official noted that there are many international players “who see the PA as the future,” yet few regional players other than Israel are paying attention to what is happening.

“The alarm bells have not yet rung for those who also maintain a strong interest in keeping the PA going,” the official added.

While Israel has acted to help stabilize the PA in the past, the official said there that this time there is “a different momentum after what happened with Assad” and his regime’s collapse in Syria. After Israel’s achievements in the war in Gaza, the official said, Hamas views mobilization in the West Bank as “their opportunity to maintain some kind of political survival.”

The official also said the situation could be leveraged “to minimize risk and maximize opportunity” in Ramallah. While the Taylor Force Act prohibits the U.S. from giving economic aid to the PA until it ends “pay-for-slay” salaries to terrorists and their families, Palestinian security forces are exempt from the law and continue to receive funding. The official suggested conditioning U.S. aid to the security forces on ending the PA’s payments to terrorists.

When it comes to Gaza, the official acknowledged that the Israeli position on a role for the PA has not changed, but said that fighting against Hamas and PIJ is a sign of “positive movement” and could be a chance to push the PA towards greater competency.

Michael Milshtein, head of the Palestinian Studies Forum at the Dayan Center at Tel Aviv University, told JI that he agreed that the recent crackdown on Hamas and PIJ in the West Bank was a positive step for the PA, but doubted Ramallah was up to the task in Gaza.

Milshtein said that after years of facing problems with Iran-backed terror groups in the West Bank, PA President Mahmoud Abbas took action this week because of the fall of Assad, which led Abbas to “look at what happened to Assad and see it could happen to him, and he is not wrong.” Additionally, Milshtein suggested, Abbas wanted to send a positive signal to the incoming Trump administration.

“I think it’s a positive development. This is something that hasn’t happened for years. But we don’t know how it’ll end. It’s still ongoing,” Milshtein said.

Milshtein monitors the Telegram chats of armed Palestinian groups, and said that they are preparing themselves for a long campaign against the PA. 

“For the last week, the IDF has stayed out of Jenin, but if [PA security forces] don’t manage, the IDF will go in,” he said.

As for the PA’s role in Gaza, Milshtein said, “even the Egyptians say the PA can’t do it. They’re barely managing an operation in Jenin…It’s far beyond their capabilities. They can participate but not be in charge.”

Milshtein also noted that for 20 years, Hamas told residents of Gaza that the PA collaborates with Israel. As such, he said, The PA “won’t be welcomed into Gaza with flowers.” 

The PA wants to be in charge of Gaza and not part of a committee, Milshtein said, but posited that being involved on the committee level might make PA participation in post-war Gaza more palatable to the government of Israel. 

“The problem for now is that the PA itself is saying no. Abbas wants to be the boss,” he said.

Maurice Hirsch, the former director of IDF Military Prosecution in Judea and Samaria and the head of the PA Accountability and Reform Initiative at the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs, was adamant that not only should the PA not have a role in Gaza, but that its control in the West Bank is dangerous.

“I don’t understand how anyone in the IDF is still talking [about strengthening the PA] when you see the loss of control all over. It’s been happening in Jenin for three years now; Hebron basically runs itself as an autonomous city… There is nowhere that the PA is actually in control,” he told JI. 

Hirsch argued that Israel needs a more coherent position: “In Gaza, it wants the PA utterly out of the picture. But in the West Bank it’s the same story as before, even though the same people are giving salaries to terrorists.” 

The PA is only fighting Hamas and PIJ now because of a temporary alignment of interests with Israel, he added.

By arming the PA security forces, the U.S. would be “providing the enemy of tomorrow with weapons,” Hirsch said, arguing that “the PA will eventually turn those weapons against Israel.” 

At least three attacks by Palestinians against Israelis this year were perpetrated by terrorists with ties to the PA security forces. Hirsch said that, due to PA budget constraints, the security forces are only being paid 50-70% of their salaries, which has led some to be disgruntled and weakened their allegiance to the PA.

In addition, they are incited by the PA education system, which demonizes Israel and Jews and glorifies terrorists, and the PA’s “pay-for-slay” program..

Hirsch also expressed concern about the power struggle likely to take place after the death of Abbas, who is 89 years old and has not held an election since he won the presidency in 2005.

“We will have a situation where different people claiming to be the legitimate heir to Abbas’ throne will be able to use the security forces in the way that Palestinian leaders gain support – against Israel,” he said. “This is a powder keg waiting to explode, and the fuse will be Abbas’ death.”